US evacuates 13,400 more people from Afghanistan: White House
Aug 26, 2021
Washington DC [US], August 26 : The United States has evacuated 13,400 more people from Afghanistan, a White House official informed on Thursday. Since August 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 95,700 people.
"From August 25 at 3 am EDT to August 26 at 3 am EDT, a total of approximately 13,400 people were evacuated from Afghanistan. 17 US military flights (14 C-17s & 3 C-130s) evacuated approximately 5,100 people from Kabul. In addition, 74 coalition aircraft evacuated approximately 8,300 people," said a White House Official.
"Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 101,300 people," he added.
The US is flying thousands of people out of Afghanistan every day from Kabul airport. The US forces took control of the airport last week to evacuate its citizens after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan
According to CNN, there are an estimated 150 American citizens left in Afghanistan whom the United States needs to get to the airport. This comes as reports have suggested that terrorist threat is hanging over the frantic endgame of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday had said that Taliban has committed to ensuring safe passage for Americans and at-risk Afghans to leave the war-torn country after the August 31 US withdrawal deadline.
Speaking at a press briefing, Blinken said: "The Taliban have made public and private commitments to provide and permit safe passage for Americans, for third-country nationals, and Afghans at risk going forward past August 31."
"The United States, our allies and partners, and more than half of the world's countries 114 at all issued a statement, making it clear the Taliban that they have a responsibility to hold to that commitment and provide safe passage for anyone who wishes to leave the country, not just for the duration of our evacuation relocation mission, but for every day thereafter," he added.
Earlier, Biden had informed that he is in discussions with his military officials regarding the extension of the evacuation mission in Afghanistan, beyond the August 31 deadline.
